The present invention is directed to a box for housing electrical receptacles and communications ports. The box is mounted to an opening cut from a furniture unit, preferably the top surface of an office conference table. A cover is pivotably mounted to the opened top surface of the box, and is movable between opened and closed positions. Means are provided for supplying external electrical power to the electrical receptacles within the box, and for coupling the communication ports within the box to external communication lines. Portable electrical, electronics and communication equipment, such as computers, facsimile machines, telephones and lighting equipment on the top of the table, can be coupled to the electrical receptacles and communication ports within the box when the cover is in its opened position. The cover is thereafter closed to provide a substantially continuous table top surface after the equipment on the table top has been coupled to the electrical receptacles and communications ports in the box mounted within the table. The cover is dimensioned such that a gap is defined between the box and the end of the cover remote from the pivot to permit passage of the cords coupling the electrical and communications equipment on the top of the table to the electrical receptacles and communication ports within the box when the cover is in its closed position.
Typical electrical receptacle and communication port boxes of the type described above are marketed by Electri-Cable Assemblies, Inc. of Shelton, Conn. under the trademark INTERFACE. It is the primary object of the present invention to provide improvements to the known table mounted boxes. These improvements will be discussed as follows in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.